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PM hard-sells welfare agenda to African panel

Last Updated 23 May 2017, 19:06 IST

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hard-sold his development agenda to the leaders of the African Development Bank (AfDB) gathered at the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar for their 52nd annual meet.

“By next year, every village in India will get electricity. Our clean Ganga, renewable energy, digital India, smart cities, housing for all and skill India missions are preparing us for a cleaner, more prosperous, faster growing and new India,” Modi told the audience comprising delegates from 80 African countries.

Listing the achievements of his government, the prime minister said while fiscal deficit, balance of payments deficit and inflation had come down, the GDP growth, forex reserves and public capital investment were on the rise.

‘Bold reforms’

The prime minister also credited his government for initiating bold reforms such as less-cash economy, mobile banking, plugging leaks in subsidy distribution through direct benefit transfer and Jan Dhan Yojana for universal banking and Aadhaar.

“I have also launched an initiative to double farmers’ incomes by 2022,” Modi said. Referring to the age-old association between India and Africa on the social, cultural and business fronts, the prime minister said that the two countries faced similar challenges of uplifting farmers, poverty, women empowerment, rural development and infrastructure. “Over the decades, our ties have become stronger. After assuming office in 2014, I have made Africa a top priority for India’s foreign and economic policy,” the prime minister said giving statistics of visits by him, the President and the vice president to several African countries.

“In the last three years, there has not been even one African nation that has not been visited by at least one of the Indian ministers,” he said.

Pledges support to Africa

He promised India’s continued support to Africa in achieving key goals in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure, power and industry.

The prime minister said the training of ‘solar mamas’ — residential training of African women to work on solar panels and circuits — had helped electrify their communities back home, as well as empower illiterate or semi-literate women by training them in basket- making, bee-keeping and gardening during their stay.

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitely said though the world economy had begun looking up after a prolonged recession, it was facing an increasing possibility of disruption.

Citing mixed experience on his recent US visit, the finance  minister said though the global economic growth was likely to improve to 3.6% this year, up from 3.5% last year, “there was an increasing possibility of disruption in it owing to the inward-looking policies of some of the advanced economies.”

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(Published 23 May 2017, 19:06 IST)

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